The object of the Sanitary Commission was to do what the Government
could not. The Government undertook, of course, to provide all that was necessary for the
soldier, . . . but, from the very nature of things, this was not possible. . . . The
methods of the commission were so elastic, and so arranged to meet every emergency, that
it was able to make provision for any need, seeking always to supplement, and never to
supplant, the Government. (Mary A. Livermore in " My Story of the War." )

WHEN the fall of Fort Sumter made war
inevitable, a wave of enthusiasm swept over the country, North and South. As always
happens in such crises, the women looked about them for something they might do. The first
soldiers who went to the front were furnished with every possible bit of equipment which
feminine brains could devise. In every village the women met to " sew for the
soldiers."
Out of this feeling that there must be something
which women could do, even if they could not fight, grew in the North the Sanitary
Commission. Its origin may be traced to a meeting of women held in New York, April 25,
1861. Out of this grew the Women's Central Association of Relief. Plan after plan was
suggested, only to be discarded by the common sense of the leaders. Finally, Dr. Henry W.
Bellows, pastor of All Souls Unitarian Church in New York, advised them to find out first
what the Government would and could do, and then to attempt to do only those things which
the general Government felt itself unable to do.
Accompanied by several other gentlemen deeply
interested in the problem, he went to Washington to study the situation. The idea of the
Sanitary Commission was a natural outgrowth of what they saw, but the plan at first met
with little favor. The medical corps was indifferent if not actually hostile; the War
Department was in opposition; President Lincoln feared that it would be a " fifth
wheel to the coach." But finally the acting surgeon-general was won over and
recommended the appointment of " a commission of inquiry and advice in respect to the
sanitary interests of the United States forces," to act with the medical bureau. The
committee was invited to put into a definite form the powers desired, and on May 23d
suggested that an unpaid commission be appointed for the following purposes:

"To inquire into the recruiting service in the various States and by
advice to bring them to a common standard; second, to inquire into the subjects of diet,
clothing, cooks, camping grounds, in fact everything connected with the prevention of
disease among volunteer soldiers not accustomed to the rigid regulations of the regular
troops; and third, to discover methods by which private and unofficial interest and money
might supplement the appropriations of the Government. "

The plan was approved and, on the 9th
of June, Henry W. Bellows, D.D.; Professor A. D. Bache, LL.D.; Professor Jeffries Wyman,
M.D.; Professor Wolcott Gibbs, M.D.; W. H. Van Buren, M.D.; Samuel G. Howe, M.D.; R. C.
Wood, surgeon of the United States Army; G. W. Cullum, United States Army, and Alexander
E. Sbiras, United States Army, were appointed by the Secretary of War, and his action was
approved by the President on the 13th of the same month. The Government promised to
provide a room in Washington for their use. The men at first appointed soon added others
to their number, and as the movement spread over the country additional members were
appointed until the commissioners numbered twenty-one. Frederick Law Olmsted, the
distinguished landscape architect, was chosen general secretary while Dr. Bellows
naturally became president. A general circular asking for contributions amounting to
$50,000 for the remaining six months of the year 1861 was issued on June 22d, which amount
was considered sufficient to continue the work of inquiry and advice for that period.
Upon the authority thus given, an examination of
the condition of the troops both in the East and in the West was undertaken by several
members of the commission, with the result that unsanitary conditions were found almost
everywhere. At once provision was made for the employment of expert physicians as
inspectors of camps. Though the commission could pay only moderate salaries, it was found
possible to secure inspectors of an unusually high type, many of whom resigned more
remunerative positions to take up the work of the commission. Minute instructions were
issued to them. They must not enter a camp without the approval of the superior officers,
which was usually given as a matter of course. In their examination they were instructed
to consider the location of the camp, its drainage, ventilation of tents or quarters, the
quality of the rations, the methods of cooking, the general cleanliness of the camp and of
the men. Wherever any of these fell short of a satisfactory standard, they were instructed
to suggest tactfully to the commanding officers the points of deficiency and also to send
their reports to the commission.
Their reports contained an immense number of
physiological and hygienic facts, which were tabulated by the actuaries of the commission
and digested by the physicians employed for the purpose. The effects of these inspections
were almost invariably good. When a commanding officer once had his attention called to
defects in the location of the camp or in drainage or in police, he was usually unlikely
to make the same mistakes in the future, and every regiment in which sanitary and hygienic
conditions were satisfactory was an example to the regiments with which it might be
brigaded in the future.
Through the inspectors, eighteen short treatises
prepared by committees of eminent medical men were distributed to the regimental surgeons
and the commanding officers. Since these surgeons had been almost wholly drawn from civil
life and as the Medical Department had not issued any such treatises to them, these little
books were of inestimable value.
The ideas of the members of the commission,
which included some of the best-known physicians in the country as well as men of affairs,
were large. The members of the Sanitary Commission felt that only a young man was capable
of making the organization effective, and they were successful in so influencing public
opinion that a bill was passed destroying to a large extent the system of promotion by
seniority and allowing the appointment of William A. Hammond as surgeon-general.
The third phase, that of relief, began with the
care of the fugitives of the battle of Bull Run. Many regiments had been scattered, and
the men came pouring into Washington, separated from their officers and surgeons, and but
for the work of the commission, much more suffering would have resulted. Relief was also
sent to the wounded after the battles at Edwards' Ferry, Ball's Bluff, and Dranesville.
The collection of supplies in kind was left
largely to the branches, which were made almost entirely independent of the parent
organization. In all of these women were prominent. The Women's Central Relief Association
of New York was the first one recognized, though the branch in northern Ohio was the first
association of women organized. The chief branches in the East were those in New York,
Boston, Buffalo, and Philadelphia. There were other branches at Cincinnati, Louisville,
Chicago, Troy, Detroit, and elsewhere. Far-off California sent a large contribution in
money. These branches were best able to deal with local conditions, as through them were
collected such diverse articles as quilts, blankets, pin-cushions, butter, eggs,
sauerkraut, cider, chickens, and many other things. The standard set by the branch for the
local-aid societies was " a box a month for the soldiers."
At first, there was much difficulty in
establishing the principle of universality of relief. A community was willing to send a
box to its own company or to its own regiment, but was less enthusiastic over the question
of sending articles to men whom it bad never seen. But after it had been shown that, on
account of the frequent changes in the position of troops, thousands of such boxes lay in
the express offices undelivered until their contents were often spoiled, the wisdom of the
provision of a general-relief fund which should send aid wherever needed, came to be
recognized.
One great difficulty to be overcome was the
widespread belief in some sections that the soldiers did not get the contents of the boxes
sent them. Rigid investigation disproved the existence of any considerable misapplication
of stores, but the rumor was stubborn, and was believed by many whose zeal naturally was
relaxed.
The commission proved its value during the
Peninsula campaign of 1862. The transfer of troops to this new and somewhat malarious
country soon brought on an amount of sickness with which the Governmental agencies were
unable to deal. With the approval of the medical bureau, the commission applied for the
use of a number of transports, then lying idle. The Secretary of War ordered boats with a
capacity of one thousand persons to be detailed to the commission, which in turn agreed to
take care of that number of sick and wounded. The Daniel Webster, assigned to the
commission April 25, 1862, was refitted as a hospital and reached the York River on April
30th, with the general secretary, Mr. Olmsted, and a number of surgeons and nurses.
Other ships were detailed, though great
inconvenience was suffered from the fact that several were recalled to the transport
service, even when they had a load of sick and wounded, who, of course, had to be
transferred at the cost, sometimes, of considerable suffering. At the same time, agents of
the commission were near the front with the soldiers, offering such relief as was in their
power. Undoubtedly hundreds of lives were saved during this campaign by the efficient work
of the commission.
During this campaign another branch of the
commission's activity developed. So many letters inquiring about sick, wounded, or dead
soldiers were received that a hospital directory was begun, and before the 1st of April,
1863, this directory included the names of the sick and wounded soldiers in every general
hospital. At the second battle of Bull Run the supplies sent forward by the
surgeon-general were captured by the Confederates, and but for those furnished by the
Sanitary Commission, the suffering would have been truly frightful. The work was continued
at Antietam, where the supplies were brought to the field two days ahead of those of the
Medical Department. The commission was also the main dependence after the battle of
Fredericksburg, and not until the battle of Chancellorsville were the supplies of the
Medical Department on the battlefield plentiful and accessible.
In the West, an organization in St. Louis, known
as the Western Sanitary Commission, though having no connection with the larger body, was
very efficient in the work of relief. It established and equipped hospitals, and was able
to supply them. Many valuable contributions, however, were sent from the East. The
Chicago, or Northwestern branch, also rendered valuable service. Scurvy was prevented by
rushing carloads of fresh vegetables to Vicksburg and to the Army of the Cumberland.
After the reorganization of the medical bureau
and the resulting increase in efficiency, the work of the commission became, as mentioned
above, largely supplementary. And yet, to the end of the war, with every corps was a wagon
carrying, among its supplies, chloroform, brandy, and other stimulants; condensed milk,
beef-stock, bandages, surgeon's silk, and other articles of pressing need. A telegram from
the inspector or relief agent on the spot to the nearest branch, demanding articles of
food or of clothing, was almost sure to be promptly answered, while Government supplies
were to be procured only on requisition, and necessarily passing through several bands,
were sometimes much delayed. With the resulting lessening of the burden upon the energies
of the commission, its activity was much broadened.
A " home " was established in
Washington to give food and lodging and proper care to discharged soldiers. Those in
charge were always ready to help soldiers to correct defective papers, to act as agents
for those too feeble to present their claims at the pension office or to the paymaster,
and to protect them from sharpers and the like. Lodges were established near the railway
stations to give temporary shelter. Two nurses' homes were established, but these were
largely used as temporary shelter for mothers or wives seeking their wounded sons or
husbands.
In the West, a home was established by the
Chicago branch at Cairo, Illinois, which was one of the main gateways through which
soldiers passed, going toward or returning from the army. Rations were issued by the
Government, and the building was furnished for the most part by the commission which
assumed the management. It was, in effect, a free hotel for soldiers, and thousands were
looked after and kept from harmful associations. Later it was much enlarged by order of
General Grant, who instructed the officer commanding the post to construct suitable
buildings. Much of the money raised by the Sanitary Commission was by means of fairs, some
of which became national events, and lasted for weeks. During its existence the Sanitary
Commission received $4,924,480.99 in money and the value of $15,000,000 in supplies.
No such well-organized instrumentality as the
Sanitary Commission existed in the South. There were many women's aid societies, and some
of those in the seaport towns performed valuable services. The one in Charleston devoted
its energies largely to procuring through the blockade the much needed stimulants and
medicines. In Wilmington, much work of the same sort was accomplished. In every town
through which soldiers passed, the women were always ready to feed the hungry and nurse
the sick without formal invitation.
There were few organized convalescent homes, but
their place was taken by almost the universal custom of private families taking
convalescent soldiers to their homes. In Richmond, the so-called ambulance committee was
very efficient in proportion to its scanty means, but the needs were so great, and the
scarcity of men and money so discouraging, that it did not work so like a well-oiled
machine as did the Sanitary Commission. Bibles and tracts were distributed by various
organizations, and an attempt to furnish other reading matter was made.
Another organization which did good work among
the Northern soldiers was the United States Christian Commission, organized by the Young
Men's Christian Association. Its purpose was primarily to improve the morals of the
soldiers and, incidentally, their physical condition. It distributed thousands of Bibles,
millions of copies of religious books, and many millions of religious newspapers and
tracts. In addition, it bought many copies of the better class of magazines and sent them
to the soldiers. In the permanent camps, free reading rooms were established, and in a
number of these State newspapers were kept on file. Writing materials and postage stamps
were furnished free to the soldiers, and the agents never ceased to urge the men to write
home and to send a considerable part of their pay. This commission set up a number of
coffee-wagons in competition with the sutlers, many of whom sold liquor, and also
established " special diet-kitchens," where needed, for the sick and
convalescent. The commission estimated that it had expended in money and in supplies more
than six and a quarter million dollars. Source: The Photographic History of the Civil War. Article by
Holland Thompson